Dr Sarah Buckley

Parenting

Hormonal Physiology, Oxytocin and More

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When we interact with our babiesSince the publication of her 2015 report Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing (more info and links here) Dr Buckley has continued to research and write about the hormones of physiological labour and the impacts of interventions.

She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland (Brisbane, Australia) studying oxytocin in childbearing.

This page lists the publications Sarah has co-authored, with links and descriptions. You can receive information about new publications by signing up to Sarah’s newsletters. 

Maternal and newborn plasma oxytocin levels in response to maternal synthetic oxytocin administration during labour, birth and postpartum – a systematic review with implications for the function of the oxytocinergic system. Buckley S, Uvnäs-Moberg K, Pajalic Z, Luegmair K, Ekström-Bergström A, Dencker A,Massarotti, C. Kotlovska, A Callaway, L Morano S, Olza Fernandez I, Meier-Magistretti C. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2023;23(1):137. Full text here 

Maternal plasma levels of oxytocin during physiological childbirth – a systematic review with implications for uterine contractions and central actions of oxytocin. Uvnas-Moberg, K., A. Ekstrom-Bergstrom, M. Berg, S. Buckley, Z. Pajalic, E. Hadjigeorgiou, A. Kotlowska, L. Lengler, B. Kielbratowska, F. Leon-Larios, C. M. Magistretti, S. Downe, B. Lindstrom and A. Dencker (2019).  BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 19(1): 285  Full text here

Maternal plasma levels of oxytocin during breastfeeding-A systematic review. Uvnäs Moberg, K., A. Ekström-Bergström, S. Buckley, C. Massarotti, Z. Pajalic, K. Luegmair, A. Kotlowska, L. Lengler, I. Olza, S. Grylka-Baeschlin, P. Leahy-Warren, E. Hadjigeorgiu, S. Villarmea and A. Dencker (2020). PLoS One 15(8): e0235806. More info and full text links here

Birth as a neuro-psycho-social event: An integrative model of maternal experiences and their relation to neurohormonal events during childbirth. Olza, I., K. Uvnas-Moberg, A. Ekström-Bergström, P. Leahy-Warren, S. I. Karlsdottir, M. Nieuwenhuijze, S. Villarmea, E. Hadjigeorgiou, M. Kazmierczak, A. Spyridou and S. Buckley (2020) PLoS One 15(7): e0230992. More info and full text links here  

Nature and consequences of oxytocin and other neurohormones during the perinatal period.Buckley S, Uvnäs Moberg K Chapter in: Downe S, Byron S, editors. Squaring the Circle: Normal birth research, theory and practice in a technological age. London: Pinter and Martin; 2019. p. 19-31 More info and links to purchase this book here 

The initiation of labour at term gestation: Physiology and Practice implications. Hundley, V., S. Downe and S. J. Buckley (2020). Best Pract Res Clin Obstet Gynaecol Aug; 67:4-18  More info (This article is only available via subscription or payment

Physiologic Basis of Pain in Labour and Delivery: An Evidence-Based Approach to its Management. Practice Guideline No. 355 Bonapace, J., G. P. Gagne, N. Chaillet, R. Gagnon, E. Hebert and S. Buckley (2018). J Obstet Gynaecol Can 40(2): 2 DOI: 10.1016/j.jogc.2017.08.003  More info (This article is only available via subscription or payment

You can find more of Sarah’s science and wisdom in her  blogs  podcast interviews and books and DVDs

What to Eat When You’re Expecting to be Expecting

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This is it!  

You’re pulling out all the stops, ditching the rubber, trashing the pills, popping out the birth-control implants, un-inserting the IUDs and everything else that stands between you and fertility, and you’re trying to conceive (TTC).

What to eat when you’re expecting to be expecting

Congratulations on your commitment!

When we embark on this journey, we know where we want to end up–with a happy, healthy baby in our arms—but we don’t really know what it will take to get there.

The good news is that there are things you can do to help.

Optimising your nutrition–or in fact, making any beneficial changes at all–is likely to assist your chances of conception. In addition, you might also make a difference to the health and wellbeing of your baby, maybe even life-long, and your own as well.

Here are my 5 top suggestions

The first thing to say on this topic is that nutrition is a controversial area, and you are unlikely to find one comprehensive, consistent nutritional philosophy or program that all experts agree about. (Sorry about this!) Some current controversies include: low fat vs high fat and low carb vs high carb. (Not to mention Paleo and Mediterranean!)

In addition, everyone’s body is unique, and different things suit different bodies. What is deliriously delicious food for some is downright detestable for others.

This is good news however. Your body is smart and will tell you what you need, when we offer healthy choices. So my first suggestion is…

1. Follow your body

Your body knows what it needs, and can orient you to the best choices.

For most of human history, our bodies have guided us towards the healthy foods our bodies need for a healthy conception, pregnancy, birth and baby. While we now have a lot more information about diet and nutrition, we can still trust our body’s knowing to guide us.

In relation to micronutrients, the vitamins and minerals that we need in small but critical amounts–there are some that are especially beneficial for conception and early pregnancy.

2. Eat good amounts of high-quality fats

As well as good-quality fats and oils from nuts, seeds, animal, and vegetable sources (ideally organic), there are some fats that we especially need for our baby’s growth in pregnancy. The “essential fatty acids” (EPA and especially DHA) are needed for fetal brain development and are ideally consumed in fish, especially oily fish, and in fish oil supplements. It is hard to get these from a vegetarian diet, although new studies suggest that DHA in supplements made from algae may be an effective alternative.

3. Pay attention to zinc in your diet

This important mineral has been less well-known than iron, but is actually needed by every cell in the body. Zinc helps skin integrity as well as male sperm production, and will be an important nutrient to help your baby develop in the womb and, afterwards, will help your skin integrity- including helping your breasts and nipples to be in good shape for breastfeeding. Animal foods and nuts, including pepitas, are good sources.

4. Watch your Vitamin D levels

Vitamin D, the “sunshine vitamin” is also needed right through the body. Vitamin D may even help you to conceive, as well as reducing your chance of preterm birth. You are very unlikely to get sufficient Vitamin D from your diet, so you will need to get it naturally with good sun exposure or via a supplement. See below for some calculators to see if you can get enough sun exposure in your location and season. Unless you have recently had a lot of sun exposure (eg a long tropical holiday), I also suggest that you have your Vitamin D levels tested and take supplements if you can’t get enough sun.

5. Fabulous folate

Taking extra amounts of this B vitamin from pre-conception through early pregnancy has been shown to reduce the chances of the neural tube defects (NTDs) spina bifida, where the coverings of the spinal cord are incomplete, and anencephaly, where the brain is not fully developed. Folate comes from green leafy vegetables (“foliage”), and recent studies suggest that a good diet that is high in vegetables may have the same benefits for NTDs and also reduce congenital abnormalities such as cleft lip ( see Preconception diet link below). Many places also have fortified foods, so you may want to check if you are already getting your recommended intake (400 micrograms) from fortified foods.

There is obviously a lot more to say about preconception nutrition, but these are great places to start. Remember that any positive changes that you can make at any stage, from preconception to late pregnancy, will be beneficial.

For more about preconception and TTC, see my blog “Five Tips for Fertile Fun.”

Resources

Vitamin D and sunshine

Preconception diet

High-quality diet reduces NTDs and other congenital abnormalities.

DHA from Algae

Scientific findings

Five Tips for Fertile Fun

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You’re wanting to make a baby. Congratulations on taking the first steps on your journey to family!

You are probably wondering exactly what you are supposed to be doing. Or not doing?  Is it just a matter of ditching the contraceptives or is there more you need to know? Are there tips and tricks that can nudge you towards conception. This is probably both exciting and terrifying!

Five Tips for Fertile Fun

In this blog, I’ll share some of my favourite fertility tips, with the intention to help you get to know your body. Before you read this, please read my blog post “Are we doing it right?” for a general overview.

And also take 5 big breaths and RELAX! It’s the first step too, by the way.

Step 1. Relax and enjoy this amazing time of preconception

Whether it takes one night or one year to conceive, you can enjoy connecting with your partner without barriers, and connecting with your own body and embodied knowing.

If you have never conceived before, it will certainly be mysterious, and may take you into deeper body-knowledge that ever before. Even if you have had previous pregnancies, every time is different.

You could regard this time a bit like preparing yourself for a wedding or another awesome event, and take on the task of maximally nourishing and nurturing yourself on every level. (See my blog “What to eat…” for more about preconception nutrition.)  You could also take on creating the most juicy sensual energy imaginable; n my experience, that is perfect for magnetising a baby, or anything else you want to create at this time.

Step 2. Read the signs  

As I talk about in my blog “Are we doing it right?”,  you can read your body’s fertility signs from simply observing your interactions with the outside world. Did more men look at you in THAT way today? Did you look at yourself like that? Was sex more urgent and pleasurable for you? Even your dreams can give you clues. The late, great Jeannine Parvati Baker, author of the amazing book Conscious Conception (see below) suggested that we describe our dreams as though to an alien who knows nothing about life in Earth. This can help us to uncover the meanings for ourselves. The estrogen peaks that accompany ovulation will also put a spring in your step, a glow to your skin and, of course, a twinkle in your eye.

Step 3. Up close and personal

There are fertile signs from inside your body as well. You may already know that your cervical mucus changes throughout your cycle, and is maximally clear and stretchy – looking like egg white–at ovulation, which generally occurs on the last day that you observe this mucus. The texture of your cervix will give you even more information, if you are willing for some internal exploration. You can usually feel your own cervix as a fleshy ring at the top of your vagina. (Squat or put one foot on the toilet seat to get the best position). When fertile, your  cervix is “SHOW”- soft (texture of your lips rather than your nose, as it is at other times), high (you may not reach it so easily), open (you could almost fit your finger tip into the ring) and wet, due to this glistening mucus. And by the way, getting to know your cervix- which you can do when you pee as well- could be really helpful in knowing when your fertility returns after birth. See resources below for more information.

Step 4. Measuring up

There are also ways to measure your fertile signs that might give you additional helpful information. These include:

  • Taking your temperature – either in your mouth or your vagina—first thing in the morning. This detects ovulation after it has happened (because your temperature rises 3 days in a row), so this sign is most helpful when you are wanting to avoid conception.
  • Charting, which is the best way to see what is happening in your body. Ideally chart for a few months to understand your cycle- Programs like Fertility Friend, and apps Glow and Ovia can help you to collate all the information and predict your fertility. See also my simple One Moon Fertility Chart and the books below.
  • Checking your hormones in saliva. This can pinpoint ovulation more accurately, but is more expensive to use- see Clear Blue below for one system.

Step 5. Tuning into love

In the beginning, it can be liberating and fun to have sex without contraception, but the novelty might wear off after a few weeks or months. Even worse, sex can become a chore for both of you, rather than an expression of love. How can you keep the love and magic while also intending to conceive? Probably the best–and hardest–advice is to take the pressure off in any way that you can. How can you “make love” without having sex? (Hint, oxytocin, hormone of love and orgasm is also the cuddle hormone). Making times to connect and cuddle, or to be sexual without full intercourse might be helpful. (Remember making out as a teen?) And sometimes a break from routines is just the thing for baby-making. (Ideally visiting an exotic location but with a little imagination – a “stay-cation” could work too!) However it all unfolds, remember to breathe and relax!

Resources

Blogs

Books

Apps and online resources

What’s so Great about Hormonal Physiology?

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When we interact with our babiesHormonal physiology describes the healthy functioning of our hormonal systems. My new report Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing provides scientific evidence and detail about these processes in pregnancy, labour, birth and postpartum, including the impacts of common maternity-care interventions on these systems.

Our childbearing hormones are critical to actually making labour and birth happen! Beginning in the final weeks and days – and likely hours– before the natural (physiological) onset of labour, our hormone systems prepare us for an efficient labour and birth, help with labour pain and stress; ensure a safe passage for our babies and, after it is all over, give us feelings of reward and pleasure as we meet our newborns for the first time.

But the benefits of physiologic childbearing – by which I mean, “childbearing conforming to healthy biologic processes”- don’t end with that after-birth glow.  The hormones that make birth happen also prepare us for breastfeeding, with these preparations beginning even before labour starts. In addition, our hormonal physiology, including the hormones oxytocin and prolactin, continues to support milk production and release right through lactation. Oxytocin and prolactin are even present in breastmilk, bestowing calming, connecting effects on our babies as they suckle.

Another critical finding from the report is the important role of these hormones for bonding and attachment. In all mammals – those species that suckle their young—hormonal physiology supports and rewards the dedicated care that mammalian mamas give to their newborns. In fact, all of the hormone systems that are discussed in the report- oxytocin, beta-endorphins, norepinephrine and prolactin- are involved in maternal-infant attachment, which is a critical process to ensure the best care and safest upbringing, which helps the species to survive.

These hormonal supports are also active in human mothers. When we interact with our babies- hold, carry, touch, talk to, breastfeed- we are rewarded with the release of oxytocin, beta-endorphins and prolactin, which give us pleasure by activating the dopamine-related pleasure centres in our brains. The more pleasure we get from interacting, the more we want to be with our babies, which benefits their health and development.

These pleasure and reward systems can be powerfully activated in women, as in other mammals, by the birth-related peaks of oxytocin and other hormones, giving us the head-start that maximizes pleasure and dedicated infant care into the future. (See my discussion of “biologic bonding” in the report.) If we miss these peaks, we may need some extra assistance to get these systems flowing. Lots of touch, carrying, contact and nursing our babies will activate these systems, and benefit our babies as well.

To find out more, and to see the scientific research that describes these processes, please look at the whole report, which is available in full for free online here . Sections 3.1.4 , 4.1.4 and 5.1.4 describe hormonal physiology after birth and you can also search the document for any words of interest.

We also have some fabulous infographics for women and care providers and a booklet describing hormonal physiology for parents.

Wishing you all power peace and pleasure for yourselves and in your work with childbearing.